For the Feast of St. Francis
Our two-part (in person and online) Blessing of the Animals is coming up!
On Saturday, October 5, from 1 PM to 3 PM, we’ll host our annual Paw-Tober event in our fenced in Pet Ministry area behind the Mercer School. In addition to a blessing service and individual blessings of your pets, it will be a time for fun and socializing. DJ Refreshments (hot dogs) and Somerset Brewing (beer) are joining us; we’ll also have soft drinks and snacks. We’re delighted that our friends at Last Hope [https://lasthopeanimalrescue.org], an all-volunteer cat and dog rescue organization, will be with us again; they welcome donations (paper towels, black garbage bags, new cat toys & sisal scratching pads, new dog toys for Go Home bags-but no rawhides, canned & dry cat food-any brand for feral feeders, Dawn dish soap) in cash or kind to help support their rescue and spay-and-neuter programs. Joining us for the first time is LI Golden Retriever Rescue; learn more about their work at their table. We’re also happy to welcome Woofie’s mobile grooming, who will have prizes and giveaways; if you book grooming services with them at Paw-Tober, a portion of proceeds will go to support Last Hope.
Not every pet travels well (or at all!) or is at ease with other animals, but they are all equally deserving of a blessing. To reach pets who can’t join us on October 5, an online blessing of the animals will take place on Zoom on Tuesday, October 8 at 4 PM. Find the Zoom link here. This brief, lovely service allows us to share the blessings with all our animals, wherever they are. If you can’t be with your pet(s) then, you can still participate and share a picture of your pet during the blessing.
We look forward to seeing all creatures great and small!